Fair Scheduling is now the law of the land!

When Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 828 (the Fair Work Week bill) into law on August 8th, we became the first state in the nation to offer schedule predictability for employees in the food service, hospitality, and retail industries.

This new law will eventually impact hundreds of thousands of people statewide.

This was not done lightly. It required reaching across the aisle to hammer out a compromise like elected officials used to do all the time, back in the day. In today’s political climate, though, it’s a feat that’s rarely achieved. With 77% of Oregon Senators and 72% of Oregon Representatives behind the bill, it’s fair to say that this legislation garnered impressive bipartisan support.

Large employers (defined as those with at least 500 employees worldwide) will now be required—beginning in July of 2018—to give their Oregon employees written work schedules a week before the start of the work week. This advance notice requirement will increase to two weeks in July of 2020.

The law’s other provisions take effect in July of 2018; they:

require at least a 10-hour break between shifts (no more involuntary “clopenings!”)

offer predictability pay for unplanned schedule changes, and

provide the “right to request,” allowing employees to express scheduling preference with no retribution.

This will be a quality-of-life game-changer for so many of us. Local 555 members: YOU made this happen. Thank you for standing together to bring long-needed change to Oregon.